America's 'smallest town' Buford sold for $900,000

Billed as the smallest town in America, Buford, Wyoming, was sold at auction
Thursday for $900,000 to an anonymous Vietnamese national.

Buford once had 2,000 inhabitants, but then the railroad dropped it as a stopping point, and locals gradually moved outPhoto: AP

11:49PM BST 05 Apr 2012

Twenty-five bidders signed up for the auction, held online and on-site, of the town with its three-bedroom house, school, gas station and several other buildings.

Buford's last inhabitant and the owner of the buildings, Don Sammons, 61, told AFP the package went to a Vietnamese man from Ho Chi Minh City.

"He actually flew here from Vietnam. He was on-site," said Mr Sammons.

The winner had to battle it out with bidders from Hong Kong, New York, Florida, Kansas and Wyoming, with the bidding starting at $100,000. Some called in their offers by phone but about 20 people were there in person.

"I'm happy and I'm sad all at once," said Sammons. "But I'm more happy than sad because this is all I wanted."

"I can continue and start the next chapter of my life," he said, adding that he planned to go someplace with sandy beaches and "maybe a palm tree" for a week or two before writing a book about his life in Buford.

The former railroad stop once was home to about 2,000 people. But they started moving away after train service ended, until the sign at the entrance to town read, "Buford. Population: 1."

The buyer will get 10 acres of land. Besides the house, a garage, cabin and barn, the property includes a cellphone tower and a parking lot that a trucking company uses to switch trailers at night.

The Buford Trading Post, as the outpost is called, benefits from regular traffic along the I-80 interstate, with Wyoming's state capital Cheyenne just 30 miles to the east, and San Francisco 1,150 miles to the west.